Previously, I discussed about giving life to a humdrum hallway by providing unique furniture. Here’s another way to give that old hallway some pizzazz! At the Kips Bay Designer Show House interior designer extraordinaire, Larry Laslo, showed us his flair for drama.

At the penthouse suite, Mr. Laslo covered the entrance walls in a red and gold velvet animal stripe fabric – called Magnetism, part of his new fabric collection he designed for Robert Allen fabrics. Doesn’t it just mesmerize and pull you in? He then proceeded to add an oversized Jansen sunburst mirror that just radiates “look at me!” in a very elegant way. A simple bench upholstered in a jeweled striped fabric called Aquavite completes the picture.

Hanging above the foyer is a brass Sputnik chandelier. The other wall of the foyer displays a mixed-media artwork by Perez Flores called Prochromatique. A pair of shell sconces flanks the artwork and a matching plaster console table provides space to drop your keys or display your curios. Just because the hallway is the least important space in the house doesn’t mean you have to settle for boring!

If you’re looking for more inspiration, head out to the Kips Bay Designer Show House. This year’s event is held at the Manhattan Center on 200 E. 66th St. in New York City and is on display until May 22nd.

Alexia Rossetti wrote a post recently about a fabulous bench she found. It was love at first sight—except for that little thing called the pricetag—so now she’s on the hunt for a similar beauty but one that will allow her to still pay the rent and therefore still have the hallway that needs the bench so she doesn’t go the way of an O Henry story.

I’m sure she knows how to find great decor at lower prices, but if anyone has a suggestion on this particular bench, well, let us know. And I do mean “us” because I want one, too!

Whenever I visit one of these home design shows, I’m always on the lookout for the unusual, for the bold design, and for something functional also. After all, when you live in a space-challenged city apartment, you want furniture pieces to multi-task too! I wandered around the recent Architectural Digest Home Design Show with a skeptical mindset. I saw beautiful furniture everywhere but they really belonged to a mansion in Beverly Hills or at a penthouse suite.

I was looking for something to perk up my humdrum hallway when you enter my home – you know the type: a hallway too small to put anything really functional like a desk or a bookcase in it yet big enough that you can’t ignore it. There’s always mirrors and artwork but it’s not very original. Most people entering the hallway barely give it a look.

Then I came across the Perczek exhibit. Furniture designer, Jaime Perczek, has designed Art Deco style pieces, some large-scaled, some a more cozy size but all very striking. I saw their black and white bench. Now this can stop traffic. Bold graphics, sophisticated shape and colors give it an Art Deco feel yet its legs have a tribal, earthy look – unusual, striking combination. It shouts I may be beautiful but I work hard too! Yes, a very good place to sit while I put my dancing shoes on…